Windows: Installing the MSI

Directory Name It is recommended that you do not install
ActivePython to a directory that contains spaces in the name. This causes
problems on some variants of Windows with some service pack levels. By default
ActivePython installs to a directory without spaces.

Directory Contents If you are installing ActivePython to
an existing directory, ActivePython's setup may overwrite files in that
directory. We recommend that you install ActivePython to a new or empty
directory.

To install ActivePython, download the .msi installation package and run it
by double-clicking it. Follow the prompts.

It is recommended that you run the ActivePython installation file
from an account with administrative privileges. This will allow other users
to use ActivePython, and will ensure that all of ActivePython's features
function. Installing ActivePython without administrative privileges has the
following limitations:

The Python ActiveX scripting engine feature will be unavailable.

Windows NT/2000 users will not be able to write Services.

Environment variables cannot be set (e.g. PATH, PATHEXT).

File associations for Python files cannot be set.

Any registry entries created are under HKEY_CURRENT_USER and
not under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

You might like to read the Getting Started
page in this guide for a general introduction to ActivePython on your
platform, and pointers to documentation that will be most useful to you.

ActivePython is divided into a number of distinct features. In the
"Customize Setup" dialog you can select which features to install. You can
also do this on the command line with the ADDLOCAL property. For example, the
following command will install just the core ActivePython functionality (i.e.
not the PyWin32 extensions or the documentation.

These command line options can all be brought together. For example, the
following command will silently install just the ActivePython core and
documentation to "C:\myapps\Python" and will not register this
as the default Python installation.

Uninstalling the MSI

The ActivePython for Windows can be uninstalled using the Modify, Repair
or Uninstall ActivePython shortcut in the ActiveState ActivePython
2.7 program group in the Windows Start menu. Alternatively,
you may uninstall the ActivePython MSI from Add/Remove
Programs in the Control Panel.

Mac OS X: Installing the OS X Package

ActivePython is distributed on Mac OS X as a disk image (.dmg
file). The disk image contains an installer package (.pkg bundle)
that you run to install ActivePython.

Other Python Distributions

Both ActivePython and MacPython (another Python distribution for Mac OS X)
install to the same location on disk
(/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/... with some links in
/usr/local/bin), therefore ActivePython and MacPython
installations of the same versions can collide. The ActivePython installer will
properly install over a MacPython installation of the same version. However it
is recommended that you first uninstall MacPython 2.7 before
installing ActivePython 2.7. For more details, consult the
ActivePython FAQ in this guide.

Installing the OS X Package (GUI)

If the browser does not automatically mount the disk image and open the
mounted folder in Finder, double-click
ActivePython-<version>-macosx.dmg to do
so.

Double-click the ActivePython installer package
(ActivePython-2.7.pkg) to start the
installation.

Follow the Installer prompts. The installer will ask for administrative
authentication if the current user does not have administrative
priviledges.

After installation is complete, you may eject the ActivePython disk image
and move ActivePython-<version>-macosx.dmg to
the Trash.

ActivePython installs a python link in
/usr/local/bin. By default this directory is not on your
PATH environment variable. Refer to
Getting Started on Mac OS X in this
guide for instructions on putting python on your path and for a
general introduction to ActivePython on Mac OS X.

Installing the OS X Package Non-Interactively

Mac OS X includes a command-line tool, installer, for
installing OS X packages non-interactively from the command line. This can be
useful for remote administration (e.g. on Apple Xserve hardware). To install
ActivePython non-interactively from the command line:

ActivePython installs a python link in
/usr/local/bin. By default this directory is not on your
PATH environment variable. Refer to
Getting Started on Mac OS X in this
guide for instructions on putting python on your path and for a
general introduction to ActivePython on Mac OS X.

Uninstalling the OS X Package

Apple does not provide a standard uninstallation tool or mechanism. You may,
however, use the uninstall script that comes with ActivePython
to uninstall ActivePython:

Note: ActivePython's uninstall will restore an
older Python installation in
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework if one exists
(using pythonselect).
This means,
for example, that if you have ActivePython 2.4 install then install and
uninstall ActivePython 2.5, your original ActivePython 2.4 will be restored
to its full working state.

The ActivePython "AS package" installer package is a generic
installer for many platforms. It allows you to install ActivePython as a
non-root (non-Administrator) user. To install: Download the package to a
temporary directory, extract the files, and run the
install.sh install script
(install.bat on Windows). For Unix platforms, glibc-2.3+ is
required.

The "AS package" is a standard tarball
(*.tar.gz) for Linux and other Unix-family systems, and a
zip file, (*.zip) for Windows. Note:
Solaris and HP-UX users must use GNU tar to unpack
the tarball, as the default 'tar' on those platforms will not work.
Binary packages of GNU tar are available here:

After installing ActivePython, you might like to read the
Getting Started page in this guide for a
general introduction to ActivePython on your platform (in particular, getting
your newly installed python on your path), and pointers to
documentation that will be most useful to you.

You can add the bin directory to your PATH environment variable for
quicker access. For example, if you use the Bash shell on Unix, you could
place this in your ~/.bash_profile file (assuming you installed into
/home/guido/ActivePython-2.7):

By default the install script will prompt you for an install directory.
You can avoid this interaction by specifying the install directory with
the -I <installdir> option. Use the -h
option for full usage information.